He’s the rebel who has now acquired a distinguished status but it doesn’t excite him one bit. Anurag still remembers those difficult days, when his debut film ‘Paanch’ didn’t see a release, and the much acclaimed ‘Black Friday’ was mired in court battles.

The radical
“Being a rebel gave me a kick. There was fun in not being accepted. I met Mahesh Bhatt the other day, and he looked at me, laughed, and said, ‘Now, you are finished. The day a poet is accepted, that is the end’,” says Anurag adding, “Suddenly, people agree with me. They want to make films with me. I should like it, but somewhere it  doesn’t. It makes me uncomfortable. It makes me feel that I will stagnate.”

Sweet struggle
With ‘Black Friday’ finally releasing this year, his John Abraham-Bipasha Basu starrer ‘No Smoking’ releasing next week and a movie deal with UTV, the acceptance finally seems complete, but Anurag looks on the earlier days of struggle with fondness. “Of course, there were really difficult days, but looking back, there was an excitement in the struggle. That’s missing now.”

Nevertheless, he asserts, “I am really excited about ‘No Smoking’. It’s something Bollywood has never done before. It’s turned out great.”

‘Dev.D’
Anurag will also begin work on UTV’s ‘Dev.D’, a modern take on the classic ‘Devdas’, which will have the lead protagonist in jeans, and be set in Punjab and Delhi.  “Abhay Deol will play Devdas. In fact, it was his idea to make this film. We are still looking for our Paro, but a Punjabi actress called Mahi will be playing Chandramukhi,” he says adding, “My Devdas will have totally different sensibilities. The love story will be set in modern times, and the lovers will face problems that modern society faces. Obviously, the ending will also be different!”